Chapter 17: [Acid Splash]

Gao De entered a meditative state once again, his thoughts immersed in the spell star-sea.

The first star-seed was successfully fixed as the origin.

Capture the second star-seed, start moving, coordinates (4/3, 1, 1/4).

Capture the third star-seed, start moving, coordinates (2, 3/2, -1/4). The second star-seed shifted, coordinates changed to (4/3, 9/8, 1/4), correct the position of the second star-seed. Correction complete.

Fourth star-seed, coordinates... the third star-seed shifted, start correction. Correction complete.

Oh no, while focusing on watching the third star-seed, the first star-seed shifted. The position of the first star-seed shifted. Attempt to correct position... abandon correction, failure.

Gao De exited the meditative state with some discouragement, rubbing his brow to regain his focus while pondering.

Originally, this construction of the spell model was proceeding smoothly according to Gao De's expectations, but when the first star-seed shifted, it caused Gao De to abort this attempt.

Because a problem he hadn't considered before appeared.

With the first star-seed as the origin, the coordinates of all other star-seeds were established based on it.

While other star-seeds can be corrected by referring to the origin when their positions shift, what if the position of the first star-seed shifts? The first star-seed itself has no reference object and cannot be corrected like the other star-seeds—one could deduce the location of (0, 0, 0) based on the coordinates of other star-seeds that haven't shifted, but then a new problem arises: without the origin reference, how can one guarantee that the positions of the other star-seeds haven't shifted? Doesn't that mean one has to start over from the beginning?

Gao De did not abandon his idea because of this.

If a problem arises, solve it.

Regardless, in terms of spell model construction, his line of thinking is more efficient than the original one: at least one only needs to start over if the first star-seed shifts; in other cases, one can continue the construction of the spell model by timely correcting the shifted star-seeds.

But this exception is exactly what Gao De finds very annoying.

If it were just a cantrip, it would be fine; after all, a cantrip's spell model has at most ten star-seeds, so starting over is just starting over.

But if it were a 1st-circle spell, or even a 2nd-circle spell, with a spell model composed of dozens or hundreds of star-seeds, having to start over because of the shift of the first star-seed after completing more than half would truly make one feel irritable.

"If only I could find a fixed point," Gao De muttered.

But in the spell star-sea, there is nothing else besides spell star-seeds and spell models, and the spell star-seeds are definitely constantly moving in a non-random way; where could one find a fixed point?

Fixed point, fixed point...

"Wait!" In a flash of inspiration, Gao De captured a key point: "There is nothing else in the spell star-sea besides star-seeds and spell models... that's for other people; in my spell star-sea, there is still one thing!"

His eyes suddenly brightened!

"Feng Ling Yue Ying"! Yes, that's it, Feng Ling Yue Ying.

Gao De does not know the origin of Feng Ling Yue Ying, but it just floats quietly and steadily at the very center of his spell star-sea, emitting a pure and bright radiance.

It doesn't move at all.

Isn't this a ready-made origin? Gao De picked up the charcoal pencil to re-decompose the coordinates of the nine nodes of the Acid Splash spell model.

With Feng Ling Yue Ying as the new origin, the first star-seed is no longer treated as the origin, so its coordinates are naturally no longer (0, 0, 0); Gao De set it as (1, 1, 1), as an equidistant scale for the spell model.

Then, based on this foundation, he obtained the coordinates of the second star-seed as (7/3, 2, 5/4), the third star-seed coordinates as... soon, the new nine coordinates were listed by Gao De on the spell formula.

He spent a few minutes memorizing these nine triplets again, enduring the slight swelling pain in his head, and entered the meditative state for the third time to construct the Acid Splash spell model.

Looking directly at the Feng Ling Yue Ying emitting bright radiance, he captured the first wandering star-seed around it.

With Feng Ling Yue Ying as the reference object, the first star-seed was successfully moved to the (1, 1, 1) position... second star-seed (7/3, 2, 5/4)... third star-seed... fourth star-seed... the second star-seed's coordinates shifted, start correction, correction complete, continue to capture the fifth star-seed... the fifth star-seed successfully moved to its coordinate point... the first star-seed shifted, start correction... Gao De was completely immersed in the construction of the spell model, as if solving an interesting math problem, and for a time he even entered a state of self-forgetfulness, not even feeling the swelling pain in his head caused by the consumption of mental energy.

Sixth star-seed... seventh star-seed... eighth star-seed... correct the shifted sixth star-seed... move the ninth star-seed to its coordinate point... nine star-seeds in place, start "connecting lines"... Following the optimized steps, Gao De proceeded step by step in an orderly manner.

Mental energy started from the first star-seed and began to extend, connecting toward the second star-seed.

Because the nine star-seeds had already been fixed in position and did not need to be dragged to move these disobedient things, the speed of connecting the "star-tracks" was exceptionally fast. Almost in the blink of an eye, Gao De's mental energy connected the nine star-seeds together.

In an instant, a stunning star-track appeared between the nine gorgeous star-seeds.

This star-track presented a faint starlight, starting from the first star-seed, dragging out a long starlight, piercing through the nine star-seeds.

The star-track was formed, and the spell model appeared! A brand-new spell model like a constellation appeared in Gao De's spell star-sea.

The moment the spell model was successfully constructed, Gao De sensed that he had mastered a magical power.

"Success? It succeeded just like that?"

Even though he was confident that his optimized spell model construction method was superior to the traditional method, he didn't expect it to be so smooth, succeeding in the construction on the second attempt.

Under normal circumstances, for a magic user apprentice like him who hasn't been cultivating for long, mastering a cantrip takes at least half a year, and at most a year.

Even for a senior magic user apprentice like Magic User Seda, mastering a cantrip requires over a month.

And now, the time he spent was only... one day! This efficiency in learning spells is something only a formal magic user can achieve.

And Gao De, according to the classification of magic user levels, is currently still a first-rank apprentice, the lowest tier among magic user apprentices.

—Cultivation at the magic user apprentice stage is divided into three levels: first-rank apprentice, second-rank apprentice, and third-rank apprentice.

And the division of apprentice levels is much simpler compared to formal magic users, determined only by two indicators: mana and mental energy.

Taking the Apprentice Meditation Technique as an example.

If the meditation technique manifests one lotus petal or more and can release one cantrip, it is a first-rank apprentice; if the meditation technique manifests eight lotus petals or more and mana can support releasing five cantrips in one breath, it is a second-rank apprentice; if sixteen lotus petals or more are manifested and mana supports releasing twenty cantrips in one breath, it is a third-rank apprentice.

From this, one can see that although they are all magic user apprentices, the strength gap between a first-rank apprentice and a third-rank apprentice is already a difference between heaven and earth.

"Try the effect!" Having successfully constructed the spell model for the first time and mastered supernatural power, Gao De couldn't wait to try the new spell.

"Acid Splash," he muttered in his heart.

At this moment, his mana flowed, instantly rising from his lower abdomen, then flowing into the spell star-sea, speeding along the track of the newly constructed Acid Splash spell model, changing into a new power, and then surging outside his body, under Gao De's mental guidance, concentrating on his right hand.

A bowl-sized acid sphere appeared, now being held in Gao De's right palm.

Immediately, Gao De waved his right hand, and it shot out toward a corner not far away.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! The sphere touched the corner, and just like a water-filled balloon being pricked, it immediately splashed everywhere; the objects the acid touched were instantly corroded, and green smoke rose.

This scene lasted for about three seconds, and then the acid seemed to evaporate and disappear, as if it had never appeared.

But both the burn marks on the corner floor and the slight corrosion marks on the wall indicated the lethality of Acid Splash.

If even wooden walls and stone floors cannot be completely immune to the acid, how could a human body resist it? "Too interesting!" Gao De exclaimed, filled with infinite pleasure and rarity.

Constructing a spell model is like solving a difficult math problem; although the process of solving the problem is difficult and arduous, the pleasure after solving the problem and obtaining the answer can be addictive.

And the positive feedback brought by the successful construction of a spell model is ten or a hundred times better than solving a math problem—each spell model represents a brand-new supernatural power.

"Continue to conquer the next spell!" Gao De was high-spirited and was just about to continue constructing a new spell model, but at this moment, his vision suddenly went black, his body swayed involuntarily, and he almost fell; then, a very empty feeling of dizziness and swelling pain came from his head.

"Mental energy over-consumed," he reacted belatedly.

Constructing the spell model three times this night had already overdrawn Gao De's mental energy.

This kind of overdraft cannot be recovered through meditation; one must rest.

Although he couldn't wait to master the other two spells, Gao De knew the principle that too much is as bad as too little, so he put away the three spell formulas and honestly returned to his room to rest.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====